Artificial tooth



Nov. 18, 1924. 1,516,003

J. B. DAVIS ARTIFICIAL TOOTH Filed D ec. 51,. 1914 atent g ran STATES"PAT Nr QFFma-Q I come 1;. DAVIS, or msnownn, rnnnsvnvmm, assrenon To mans. s.

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Application Med December 81, 1914. Serial No. 879,877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. DAvIs, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Lansdowne, in the county of Delaware, State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial Teeth,of which the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccom anying drawings.

y invention relates particularly to that class-ofartificial teeth whichare commonly designated as, interchangeable facings' or crowns, and isesgecially directed to the are, to provi e a porcelain tooth-crown soshaped and proportioned as to be rigidly mounted in suitably shapedcomplementary socket members forming a cap, bridge or of the patient.

plate, affording a maximum rigidity in the support of said tooth-crownwith a mini- 'mum amount of metal, and permitting replacing of thetooth-crown without removing the metallic framework from the mouth Otherobjects of my invention are, .to provide a tooth-crown having means forattaching it to a metallic support, so disposed as to permit of itsbeing ground or otherr wise altered for short bite cases or for anyother purpose, without impairing or in any way weakening its means ofattachment to said support; and to provide a tooth-crown whose means ofattachment afford reinforcements in the backing so disposed as to ofiersubstantial abutments in oppositionto the possible" stresses, for thesupporting shoulders or ledges of the porcelam tooth body. v v ,Minvention comprehends a tooth-crown in w 'ch' thebody, including. thecusps and the front are integrally-formed of'porcelain, and which may beremovably'engaged with suitably formed metallic on s providing socketstherefor, having rein orcing abut- 'ment ridges or ribs connected byrelatively thin webs, and so disposed that when said cups are laterallyjoined to-form a bridge or plate, the tooth supporting structure Wlllcomprise-a shell having a skeleton frame whose reinforcing bars or ribsare braced .byb relatively thm' interposed connecting we 8.

. My invention further includes all of the various novel features ofconstruction I and arrangement hereinafter nore definitely.

specified. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevationalview of-a porcelain tooth-crown embodying a convenient form of myinvention, fitted into its complementary metallic mounting cup; Fig, 2is a side v elevational view of the tooth-crown shown in Fig. 1, showingthe metallic mounting cup invertical longitudinal section forconvenience of illustration; Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view of thetooth-crown shown I in Figs. 1 and 2, per se; Fig. 4 is a vhori-.

zontal sectionalviewof the tooth-crown and its mounting cup, taken onthe line 4-4 in Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a side elevational view'of' amodification of the tooth-crown shown in Fig. 1, showing its mountingcup in vertical longitudinal section for convenience of illustration;Fig. 6 is a rear elevational view of the tooth-crown shown in Fig. 5,per se;

Fig. 7 is a vertical. longitudinal sectional view of the mounting cupsuch as is associated with the tooth-crown shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is atransverse dia onal sectlonal view of the mounting-cup s own in Figs.--5 and 7, taken on the line 8-8 in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a side elevational view of another modified form-oftooth-crown, showing its mounting in vertical longitudinal section forconvenience of illustration; Fig. 10 is a. horizontal sectional viewtaken through the porcelain tooth-crown and its mountingon the line10-10 in Fig, 9; and Fig. 11 is a rear elevational view of thetooth-crown shown in Figs. 9 and 10, per se.-

Inhe form'of my invention shown in Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, thetooth-crown bo y ory whichis preferably formed of celain, comprises theintegrally formed uccal facing 2, cusp facing 3 havin the one s 4, andIn '5 projectin finwar ly in t e angle of t e respective acings and ofsuch extent as to form a substantially horizontal marginal ledge 6extending along the sides and back of the tooth-crown near.-the cusp endand terminating at the rear surface of the buccal facing, and thevertical marginal.

'fia.

vertical rooves or recesses 9 and 10, extending t erethroughandrespectively terminatin at the ledge 6 upon the respectively oppositesides of said lug 5.

As best shown in Fig. 2, the rear surface of the buccal facing 2 slopesobliquely outward toward the gingival edge from its intersection withthe gingival surface of the lug 5, which preferably slo es from saidintersection rearwardly, 'inc ining toward stantially forming acontinuous groove exsides thereof with its edges abutted againstvtending horizontally across the tooth-crown body and vertically'uponopposite sides to the ledge 6. As shown by a comparison of Figs. 2 and3, said ledge 6 is broader along the back of the tooth-crown body thanat the sides thereof.

The tooth-crown above described is ar-- ranged to be detachably engagedwith its complementary mounting cup 13,'wh-ich provides a sockettherefor and comprises a thin shell conforming to the inner surfaces ofsaid tooth-crown and extending over the the ledges 7 and 8 adjacent tothe lateral edges 0 the inner surface of the buccal facing 2, and theledge 6 extending around the edge of the cusp facing 3.

he mounting cup 13 is provided with ribs 15 and 16, pro'ectin into thegrooves 9 and 10 and exten ing from the occlusal ed 0 which abutsagainst the ledge 6 along t e vertical forward edges, and mergesinto-the transverse rib 17 which extends transversely across themounting cup 13 intermediate of its front and rear edges and enters thegroove formed b the an le '12 in the toothcrown body. T e broa enedledge at the back of the tooth-crown adords s ace for a reinforcing rib19 at therear e ge ofthe mountin cup, 7

It wil be obvious from the foregoing description that the mounting cup13 may 0 at ca which may be permanently secured to t e'natural toothroot in any wellknown manner and provide a mounting in which theporcelain tooth-crown may be cemented, or said mounting cup may form aunitqjof a bridge or late in which a plurality of such unitso suitableconformation may be joined to form a unitary structure having a seriesof sockets for the reception of tooth-crowns of the desired formsuitable to complete the dental arch.

It will be seen that when a plurality of mounting cups of the formcontemplated are soldered together side by side t form a bridge orplate, the chened rediedge intense forming the reinforcin rib 19 servesto form a continuous rein orcing'bar substantially conforming to thedental arch. Likewise, the transverse rib 17 serves to form a similarbar extending substantially parallel with the bar formed by the ribs 19and connected by relatively thin webs of metal extending over the innersurfaces of the toothcrown and turned over the sides thereof, andreinforced by the transversely extending spurs comprising the lateralribs 15 and 16.

By thus forming the tooth-crown mounting, such bridge or plate comprisesa skeleton frame or network of reinforcing bars or ribs extending in'thedirections of possible stresses and connected by relatively thin webswhich tend to brace said skeleton frame and prevent its distortion,whereby the greatest possible strength is attained with a minimum amountof metal.

In the form of my invention shown in Figs. 5 to 8, inclusive, thetooth-crown body comprises the buccal facing :20, the cusp facing 21having the cusps 22, and the lug 23 extending rearwardly in the angle ofthe respective facings, and forming the substantially horizontal ledge24 extendingaround the opposite sides and back thereof near the cusp endand the substantially vertical led 'e 25 extending along the lateraledges of t e buccal facing 20.

In this form of my invention, the gingival surface of the lug 3 isprovided with the angularlydisposed urfaces 26 and 27 forming theinterior angle 28, providing a transverse oove parallel with but spacedsomewhat gdhind the plane of the rear surface of the buccal facing 20.

Said lug 23 is also provided in its opposite sides with grooves 29 and30 connected at their inner ends with the groove formed by the angle 28and extending therefrom obliquely forward and terminating at theintersection of the ledge 24 and rear surface of the buccal facing 20. I

The mounting cup 33, complementary to the form of tooth-crown shown inFi 5 to 8, inclusive, comprises a thin shel 0 metal gle 28 in thetooth-crown, and merges into the lateral reinforcing ribs 40 and 41respecin te tooth-crown. v h

It will be noted that the mounting cup 33 is all rwpects ar to themounting llllO lld tivel. projecting into the grooves 29 and 30 cup 13shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, except that its lateral ribs and-41instead of extending vertically, as in the mounting cup 13, extendobliquely with respect to the occlusal plane of the tooth-crown, so thatthe engagement of the tooth-crown with the mounting cup 33 will beeffected in an ob-r lique direction.

In the form of my invention shownin Figs. 9 to 11, inclusive, theporcelain toothcrown comprises the buccal facing 43, cusp facin 44having the cusps 45, and the inwardl y projecting lug 46 forming thesubstantially horizontal ledge 47 near the cusp end of the tooth-crown,and the substantially vertical ledge 48 along the lateral rear edges ofthe buccal facing 43. Said lug 46 is provided upon its o grooves 49 and50 extending along the ledge 47 and terminating at the rear surface ofthe buccal facing 43. v a

The mounting cup 51, which is complementary to the form of tooth-crownshown in Figs. 9 to 11, inclusive, comprises a thin shell of metaloverlVing the inner surfaces of the tooth-crown, with its forward edges52 and 53 of its opposite sides abutted -against the ledge 48 at therear surface of the buccal facing 43, and the incisive edge of theopposite sides and back abutting against the ledge 47 and having acontinu-' ous reinforcing rib 54 extending along. said led e andprojecting into said grooves 49 an 50.

It will be obvious that a tooth-crown constructed in accordance withthis invention may be ground to any desired depth withosite sides withsaid le out in anyway weakening its means of support. This is especiallyadvantageous in short bite cases.

Although I have specificially referred to the tooth-crown body as beingformed of facing, a cusp facing, and a lug in the angle thereof forminga marginal ledge along-the inner surfaces of said facings, and havinglateral (grooves extending along the ledge,

ge being relatively broader at the back than at the sides.

2. An artificial tooth, comprising'a buccal facing, a cusp facing, a luginthe angle thereof forming a ledge along the innersurface of saidfacing, and having lateral grooves directed outwardly or labiallytowardsaid angle, and a transverse groove connecting said lateralgrooves.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 30th day ofDecember, A. D. 1914. i

JOHN B. DAVIS. Witnesses; I

WILLiAM J. RUssnLL, Cm'rorr C.

